Protests in Spain will spread if European officials fail to handle mass tourism’s negative effect on the lives of residents, UNESCO’s Peter Debrine told “Squawk Box Asia” on Monday.
“It’s turning right into a very volatile situation,” said UNESCO’s senior project officer for sustainable tourism. “Civil society coming and attempting to make change may be very essential, because at the top of the day, these are elected officials, so that they need to respond … to what the residents of their cities want.”
He cited the banning of enormous cruise ships in Venice, Italy, in 2021 for example.
“People took to the streets on that issue,” he said. “Cruise ships aren’t any longer going through the Grand Canal.”
Measures that work?
Cruise ships now dock farther from Venice, which helps the structural and environmental integrity of the town.
But ship passengers still flow into its narrow passageways by the 1000’s. Venice is predicted to draw some 540,000 cruise ship passengers this yr, a 9% increase from 2023, in keeping with the North Adriatic Sea Port Authority.
In an try and thin crowds, Venice implemented a 5-euro ($5.45) tourism tax on peak days this yr — a measure which, up to now, has not worked, reported Euronews.
Like Venice, Barcelona’s residents have long struggled with the worldwide popularity of their hometown. Every year, the number of people that say that tourism advantages the town decreases, while the number who feel it’s detrimental rises, in keeping with a 2023 survey of Barcelona’s residents by its City Council.
“In Barcelona … they really breached a threshold,” Debrine said. But “there are answers.”
‘Quality over quantity’ tourism
The interests of locals and travelers must be rebalanced, said Debrine.
A city coping with too many travelers could make a push for “quality over quantity” tourism — that’s, prioritizing big-spending travelers over mass tourists, he said.
The strategy gained traction throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, when safety and staffing concerns led destinations around the globe to euphemistically announce an all-out push for fewer luxury travelers, moderately than many budget ones.
“Quality” travelers also help correct one other problem: tourists who behave badly.
“With the residents, it isn’t just the numbers, but it surely’s how persons are behaving,” Debrine told CNBC. Spaniards have complained for years that, tourists drink excessively, litter, brawl and even run naked through the streets.
Debrine said Amsterdam is exploring policies to vary behaviors like those.
Along with cracking down on coach buses, tourist shops, recent hotels and short-term rentals, the Dutch capital launched a travel campaign in 2023 telling some visitors — namely young, male British tourists — to “stay away” in the event that they’re traveling to the town for drugs or parties.
Calls for ‘tourism degrowth’
Civil groups are calling for Barcelona officials to implement a lot of policies aimed toward establishing “tourism degrowth” — namely, higher tourism taxes, limits on cruise ships and restrictions on short-term housing rentals.
But travelers also play a job in curbing mass tourism, said Debrine.
“We must be more conscious in our travel decisions,” he said, suggesting the concept of “mirror cities” as one method.
“There’s a phenomenal city south of Barcelona called Tarragona. It has quite a lot of the wonderful cultural attractions,” he said. “Just like Barcelona, it has a phenomenal seaside.”
But unlike Barcelona, he said, it “may benefit from more tourism.”
